Albuquerque’s firefighter union is pushing back after a city committee sided with the mayor in a heated staffing dispute, saying the administration is misusing the decision to impose changes without negotiation.
On July 7, the Intragovernmental Conference Committee (ICC), formed by Burqueño voters to settle power struggles at City Hall, ruled the City Council overstepped by mandating paramedic staffing. The panel tossed out the Council’s resolution and ruled staffing decisions belong to the mayor.
The staffing dispute directly affects emergency medical response for Albuquerque’s 558,000 residents. AFR operates 23 fire stations with 777 uniformed personnel, including 212 paramedics and 471 basic emergency medical technicians who responded to more than 108,000 calls in 2022.
The department currently ranks as the 30th busiest fire department in the nation, with 18 transport-capable rescue units providing advanced life support across 189 square miles.
The 2-1 decision, now filed with 2nd Judicial District Court, clears the way for Mayor Tim Keller’s administration to move forward with a new deployment plan. But union leaders say it cuts firefighters out of the process and ignores decades of frontline experience. The union and Council have filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari, asking a judge to review the ruling.
Despite the union’s objections, AFR has been implementing changes to paramedic deployment since 2021, moving one paramedic from traditional two-person rescue teams to fire engines in high-demand areas. City officials say this approach doubles response capability by getting advanced medical care to more calls faster.
Fire Chief Emily Jaramillo has defended the changes as necessary for expanding advanced life support coverage.
The staffing model affects how Albuquerque Fire Rescue responds to its emergency call system.
“Based on how serious that call is, you either get a BLS, a basic life support unit, which is generally an engine, or the paramedic response, which is generally a rescue,” Jaramillo said in previous statements. “If it’s critical, like a heart attack, a cardiac arrest, you would get both.”
“The chief testified at City Council that this is the biggest change in our department’s history,” said Miguel Tittmann, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 244 and captain in Albuquerque Fire Rescue. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t bargain for something like that with firefighters. This deserves to be negotiated. It deserves to have our members’ fingerprints on it — something they can vote on, not just a management decision being shoved down their throat.”
Council’s Resolution vs. Executive Authority
The City Council passed a resolution requiring two paramedics on every ambulance, but a state committee said that kind of staffing decision falls under the mayor’s authority.
Councilors Dan Lewis and Joaquin Baca sponsored the measure after hearing concerns from the firefighters’ union and crews in the field.
According to the ruling, the city charter gives the mayor — not the Council — authority over department operations and staffing, backed by Albuquerque’s Merit System, which ensures fair, merit-based employment and reinforced by city labor ordinances.
“Our Charter outlines in plain language the clear separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches,” said Mayor Tim Keller in a statement. “This decision affirms the legal authority of the Mayor as the executive to staff our departments with highly skilled and experienced professionals.”
Council attorneys argued the mayor waived his right to challenge the resolution by not vetoing it. But the panel said public objections from Keller’s team showed “no intention to relinquish” that right.
Chair Luis Stelzner and mayor-appointed member Bob White sided with Keller. Council appointee Linda Vanzi dissented, saying the Council has the authority to set public safety staffing.
What’s at Stake
At stake is more than how Albuquerque responds to emergencies — it’s about who gets the final say at City Hall.
“We hire directors with the experience and expertise to lead our City’s departments. This decision confirms our authority in staffing decisions,” said Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel. “This decision is not just about one department. It’s about preventing legislative interference in areas that can be quite literally dangerous and undermine the public’s trust in the professionalism of their city departments.”
According to the City, Jaramillo is moving ahead with her plan to staff both rescue units and fire engines with paramedics in high-demand areas. This will ensure 911 callers get an immediate response from a firefighter and a paramedic on scene.
What the Union Wants
“They’re kind of painting it in a way that the fire chief and administration can now staff however they want. I don’t think that’s accurate,” Tittmann said. “The best model is labor and management working together.”
According to Tittmann, “I think there’s a lack of understanding of how the Fire Department operates in general. When people hear about a contentious resolution that has to do with staffing, it’s natural to think something’s being changed.
“In actuality, we’re just trying to maintain what we’ve been doing for 40 plus years in terms of how we’ve staffed our rescues, how we staffed our department, how we’ve provided service delivery to the citizens of Albuquerque,” Tittmann said. “In our opinion, very, very well.”
He said AFR has built its reputation on the “Cadillac system” and shouldn’t move away from it. While both sides agree Advanced Life Support (ALS) expansion matters, he said the real disagreement is about how to get there.
Firefighters want to keep the current model and build on it, not replace it.
Tittmann said the biggest misconception about the Council’s resolution is that it introduced something new the union is trying to block.
“In actuality, the union is trying to preserve what we do,” he said.
He said the issue played out publicly in a way many people didn’t fully understand.
“We do our best to educate as many people as we can on what and how we do,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that the citizens of Albuquerque are comfortable with the safety that they’re being provided, and we provide the safest service delivery right now with the system that we have. Deviating from that — whether you want to say it’s less safe or it’s not safe — we’re comfortable saying it’s less safe.”
Tittmann said the conversation around ALS expansion isn’t new — it’s been going on for decades.
“It really comes down to, how can we hire more paramedics so that we can implement staffing paramedics on engines,” he said. “Through our last contract, we were able to achieve something that we have never done before — that’s pay paramedics no matter what truck they’re on.”
He said that change, which took effect July 1, was a premature decision, because they didn’t allow the full effect of the contract to take place giving them the option to use more of their staffing in more creative ways.
Why Input Matters
Tittmann said listening to firefighters is key when weighing how to deliver emergency medical care.
“To simplify it, when a significant EMS call goes out, consider a car accident with multiple victims and some victims that need to be transported immediately to life-saving hospital care,” he said. “We know that providing two paramedics on a [ambulance], working in tandem, able to bounce protocols off of each other, able to check protocols between each other — that makes it a better service delivery with two instead of one.”
He said that’s especially true for critical calls like gunshots, stabbings, cardiac arrests or high-speed wrecks where “time is of the essence.”
As union president, Tittmann said he’s studied models from fire departments across the country. While some use the structure Albuquerque’s fire chief is proposing, he said putting that kind of pressure on a single paramedic is risky.
“It’s a lot for any one person,” he said. “Allowing two paramedics working at the highest level in tandem on a [ambulance], able to take patients to the hospital that’s going to have the best outcomes for those very, very critical calls. We know that two paramedics on that [ambulace] is the best service delivery, and any kind of dilution of that service is a disservice to the citizens and the guests of Albuquerque.”
A Seat at the Table
“We’re going to advocate that we deserve a seat at the table,” Tittmann said. “Nothing about us without us — that’s our stance.”
He said firefighter working conditions are unique, which is why union input should be part of every staffing discussion.
He said they will continue to explore all of the options, including in court if necessary but compromising, and coperation with management always remained on the table. They’re willing to concede on some things, as long as it means giving the public the best service possible.
“The fire chief had a couple of informational sessions where people had to come on their own time via Zoom, and it was very disorganized,” Tittmann said. “To me, none of those are the appropriate avenues for this to be addressed.”
He said the proper process is through IAFF Local 244, the official bargaining unit representing the Albuquerque firefighters.
“The rank-and-file know — through many conversations — that hasn’t happened,” he said. “And that’s all we’re asking for.”
Balancing Innovation with Tradition
According to Tittmann, balance is key to improving the fire department.
He pointed to examples like using drones for arson investigations or the LUCAS device, which delivers high-quality chest compressions during cardiac calls.
“We’re not against change — we welcome innovation that improves service. But it has to be done with input from firefighters. That’s why committee work matters,” he said. “Our contract spells out ways for us to collaborate with leadership, and that collaboration helps us move forward without losing sight of where we came from.”
He added that honoring the department’s history is just as important as looking ahead.
“We’ve lost things in the past because decisions were made without balance. We can’t repeat that. Innovation and tradition should work together to give the public the best response possible.”
Morale and Seniority Concerns
Jaramillo told councilors the plan to shift paramedics from ambulances to fire engines is designed to address burnout and reduce delays in an overwhelmed system, where ambulance crews often get stuck at hospitals waiting to transfer patients.
“Morale is at an all-time low,” Tittmann said. “Firefighters feel like a major change is being forced on them without their input. Management’s attitude has been, ‘We have the right to do this, and you just have to accept it,’ and that’s never a good feeling.”
He said firefighters want a seat at the table so they can help design systems that work — for both employees and the public.
“They affect morale, retention and training,” he said. “If paramedics feel burned out or unsupported, they leave. If staffing isn’t planned with long-term goals in mind, you create a system that’s constantly struggling to catch up.”
He said one of the biggest concerns is how the proposed change would affect the department’s bid system — a long-standing process where firefighters choose their station and assignment based on seniority.
“Our seniority has always been something that we’ve coveted and protected,” Tittmann said.
Gaining experience year after year matters, because seniority determines how firefighters are assigned and where they work, said Tittmann.
Changing how paramedicine is delivered and how trucks are staffed would disrupt that system, changing assignments and bids cascading from the highest rank to the lowest rank.
“It’s a major shift that affects every firefighter, from top to bottom, and it hits morale department-wide,” he said.
He said leadership shouldn’t be about making decisions alone. It should be about working with employees to make decisions together.
“I think we have lost that a little bit,” he said. “I’m not sure how, but we know the best way to maximize how AFR works is through high-level labor management relations, and we hope to get back to that someday.”